Scott Morgan adds second row options

Scott Morgan
By Duncan Wood
July 3 2002

Bristol probably considered themselves lucky in the second row department last season. Garath Archer is a full international, Alex Brown an A cap and Andrew Sheridan an England tourist. Scott Morgan strengthens the group even more.

On the face of it, Bristol now have 4 or 5 top quality second row forwards to choose from.

Alex Brown and Garath Archer were the first choice pairing last season with Andrew Sheridan or Ben Sturnham stepping in as and when required.

During his first spell with the club, Scott was initially considered as a number eight who then played some games in the second row. Towards the end of the 1999-2000 season, he got a few outings at blindside flanker. Bedford away and Saracens away ring bells for me.

Peter Thorburn expressed a desire on Tuesday for Bristol to have the best lineout in the country next season and he certainly seems to have the personnel to do the job.

The debate will now start about who the best pairing will be. Postings on the messageboard have expressed a little concern about Scott's size and whether he and Alex would be too lightweight a pairing.

According to the press release, Scott weighs in at 17 st. According to the match programme, Alex is 17st 10lbs and Arch is 18 st. According to the official site, Alex is 17st 7lbs and Arch 18st 7lbs!

I'm confused - all I can say is that Scott looked a bloody big lad when I stood next to him on Tuesday and he had a tough time getting on Ben Sturnham's shirt for photos. Put it this way, he would get shoulder pads on underneath!

I think we'll see a lot more rotation this season which will share the load. This has also been expressed by several people on the messageboards. We certainly seem to have the options to permit Peter Thorburn to pursue this option.